BRUSSELS – The EU is not facing monetary Armageddon, Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, told the Brussels Economic Forum on Tuesday in Brussels.

“We are not in a monetary Armageddon,” said Van Rompuy. “Verbal inflation will not bring back confidence. It is a political duty to keep a sense of proportion. We are certainly in a critical moment. One can call it unprecedented and historical. But crisis are always unprecedented. That is the whole point.”

EU policymakers took the right steps to ensure that heavily indebted states, particularly Greece, won’t be allowed to fail, he said. He added that he is confident Greece will surmount its debt problems with the EU’s help.

EU policymakers took the right steps to ensure that heavily indebted states, particularly Greece, won’t be allowed to fail, he said. He added that he is confident Greece will surmount its debt problems with the EU’s help.

Olli Rehn, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs, launched the Brussels Economic Forum today in Brussels, mainly focusing this year on exit strategies out of the current debt crisis in the European Union and on how the Europe 2020 strategy can spur growth.

It is still unclear what impact the recent turmoil in sovereign debt markets will have on the EU’s economic recovery, Rehn told the audience.The critical question is whether the real economy can sustain the renewed turbulence in financial markets, he added.

“To succeed with this strategy, we need to introduce a truly European dimension to economic policy making in Europe,” said Rehn. “This is why the Commission recently presented an ambitious set of proposals to reinforce economic governance in Europe. We want to strengthen preventive budgetary surveillance, to address macro-economic imbalances and to set up a permanent and robust framework for crisis management.”

The Brussels Economic Forum is the European Union’s premier platform for debate on economic issues. It is an opportunity to meet decision-makers, opinion leaders and other key players from government authorities, international organisations, European institutions, financial institutions, social partners, academia and the media.

Non-viable banks burdened with bad debt should not be “left living among the dead,” a senior IMF director tells a conference on the economic crisis in Brussels.

Addressing the Brussels Economic Forum 2009 today in Brussels, José Viñals, Financial Counsellor and Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said there is a need for immediate, forceful and effective policy action to restore confidence in the financial and the banking systems of many countries.

We must continue to support bank intermediation through the provision of liquidity and funding guarantees; but in addition, we need to take measures, and this is an important issue for reflection, on how can we restart securitisation markets, he added.

The latest forecast by the IMF in its World Economic Outlook shows the global economy contracting in 2009 by 1.3%. While the rate of contraction should moderate from the second quarter of 2009 onward, output per capita is projected to decline in countries representing three-quarters of the global economy. Growth is projected to re-emerge in 2010, but at 1.9% it would be sluggish relative to past recoveries.

Vinals: “Vital banks must be recapitalised when necessary and restructured if that is needed, while non vital banks should not be left living endless but should be resolved very very promptly.”

European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia confesses that the EU’s economic monitoring system failed to detect the economic crisis on time and that the initial European response to the crisis was inadequate. Almunia made the comment while addressing the 2009 Brussels Economic Forum in Brussels

Former European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti addresses the 2009 Brussels Economic Forum and underlines the line for coordination action among the EU member states to address the economic crisis.

Joaquin Almunia, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs, opened the Brussels Economic Forum 2009 this morning in Brussels, where high-level speakers (ministers, European commissioners, leaders of international organisations, central bankers, and academics) were expected to address both crisis and recovery and discuss strategies for restoring confidence in the economy while preserving growth. The Forum, now in its tenth edition, included sessions on: Europe and the global response to the crisis; the financial crisis and the design of a new rulebook; ageing, the economic crisis, and their impact on the sustainability of public finances in the wake of the adoption of the 2009 Ageing Report by the Commission.